Opposition <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Citizens%27_Coalition_for_Change">Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC)</a> has dismissed <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Hopewell_Chin%27ono">Hopewell Chin’ono</a>’s claims that jailed legislator <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Job_Sikhala">Job Sikhala</a> has been betrayed by those close to him.
Chin’ono, an award-winning journalist, had posted on Twitter suggesting that Sikhala who has been in jail since June 2022 had been forsaken by his party. He tweeted:
<blockquote>
One day we will talk about why this warrior is still in jail, and how those close to him betrayed him and go around speaking ill of him, pretending to be with him.
How some were bought, maybe he should tell his own story, but the story will be told. There is always a right time!
</blockquote>
Some members of the CCC say Chin’ono’s assertion that Sikhala, whom he shared with cells at <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Chikurubi_Maximum_Security_Prison">Chikurubi Maximum Prison</a> in 2021, was betrayed by those close to him is “not too far-fetched.” They say more could have been done in a bid to secure his release.
However, the party’s Deputy Spokesperson <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Gift_Ostallos_Siziba">Gift Ostallos Siziba</a> dismissed rumours of disunity saying they were fully behind Sikhala. He responded to Chin’ono’s remarks:
<blockquote>
Kupi ko?
We are united together in the fight to win Zimbabwe for Change. Job is being failed by a captured judiciary.
He will come home, nothing lasts forever. We have been in prison before (l for one stayed in Chikurubi for more than 60 days without trial) and we know that as long as Zanu PF exists we are jail candidates.
</blockquote>
The Zengeza West legislator was arrested and jailed allegedly for inciting the 14 June 2022 violence which erupted in Nyatsime during the funeral wake of slain CCC activist, <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Moreblessing_ali">Moreblessing Ali.</a>
He has been jailed at Chikurubi Maximum Prison, without trial.
<h2><a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/">More Pindula News</a></h2>

Pindula News

CCC Responds To Chin'ono's Claims That Sikhala Was Betrayed By "Those Close To Him"

A 24-year-old prisoner has escaped from Chikurubi Maximum Prison in Harare where he was serving a one-year term for a charge of malicious damage to property.
Danaishe Chinyama escaped from prison on Wednesday after he had served eight months in prison.
Zimbabwe Republic Police (ZRP) national spokesperson Assistant Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident. He said:
<blockquote>
Police in Harare are appealing for information that may lead to the arrest of Danaishe Chinyama (24) for escaping from Chikurubi Maximum Prison on 07/12/22.
The suspect was serving 12 months imprisonment for malicious damage to property and had served eight months.
Anyone with information to report at any nearest police station.
</blockquote>

Prisoner Escapes From Chikurubi Maximum Security Prison

Jailed <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/Robert_Martin_Gumbura">Robert Martin Gumbura</a> has died at Chikurubi Maximum Prison Hospital from COVID-19.
Gumbura who was the leader of the Robert Martin Gumbura (RMG) Independent End Time Message was in jail serving a 40-year jail term which was later reduced to 20 years after appeal.
<a href="http://tategurutv.com/just-in-gumbura-dies/">Tateguru TV</a> was informed by a close family source who said Gumbura died on his way to the hospital when he died.
Freelance journalist Hopewell Chin’ono posted on Twitter on Saturday saying he had been informed that Gumbura had died. <a href="https://twitter.com/daddyhope/status/1424018016505942021">He said</a>:
<blockquote>
I have just been informed that Robert Martin Gumbura has died at Chikurubi Maximum Hospital from Covid-19.
He was in prison for rape and was famous for having 25 wives and a church!
I met him 3 times at Chikurubi when I was jailed on trumped-up charges by the regime!
</blockquote>
Meanwhile, some have expressed concern over the health of other inmates as they might be exposed to COVID-19. <a href="https://twitter.com/JamesKuwanda/status/1424023697661300741">Said one James</a> responding to Chin’ono’s post:
<blockquote>
How safe is the prison environment under these covid times? Are the other inmates safe? I guess we need a mandatory vaccination program for all inmates.
</blockquote>
Zimbabwean prisons are overcrowded and the government has previously pardoned some prisoners with minor offences to decongest the correctional institutions.
A senior prisons officer who spoke on condition of anonymity said it is surprising considering that there was never an outbreak of COVID-19 at an overcrowded Chikurubi Maximum Prison. He said:
<blockquote>
I cannot confirm his death but it’s surprising considering that we only had an outbreak at Bindura (Prison). 
COVID-19? Gumbura was challenging imprisonment and conviction and he could win. Do you know he was arrested for political reasons? After refusing to release his Eldorado Mine and also after contesting against Goodwills Masimirembwa. Yes, he might have died of COVID-19 but I am not dismissing foul play.
</blockquote>
Gumbura joined the <a href="https://www.pindula.co.zw/End_Time_Message_Church" title="End Time Message Church">End Time Message Church</a> in 1978 and later broke away from the main church in the 1990s because of the doctrine of polygamy and formed his church called Robert Martin Gumbura (RMG) Independent EndTime Message Church. 
More: <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw">Pindula News</a>

Jailed Robert Martin Gumbura Has Died

MDC Alliance national vice chairperson, Kob Sikhaka has said if his party attain power, they will close Chikurubi Maximum prison.
Sikhala stayed at Chikurubi for over 4 weeks after he was arrested and charged with inciting public violence after he rallied the citizenry to participate in foiled 31 July anti-government protests that were being organised by opposition Transform Zimbabwe leader Jacob Ngarivhume.
Wiwa, as Sikhala is popularly known, is currently out on $50 000 bail. Speaking to New Zimbabwe, the Zengeza West legislator said:
<blockquote>The new order is going to close down this horrible and inhabitable infrastructure called Chikurubi Maximum Prison. We are going to make sure that Chikurubi is turned into a museum. It is not worth human habitation.
People inside are surviving on food not worth even fit to feed a dog. People there are starving. I have lost weight myself because of the diet I was getting inside.</blockquote>
Sikhala’s description of the prison <a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2020/09/23/chinono-speaks-on-deplorable-state-of-prisons/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">matches that of award-winning journalist Hopewell Chin’ono</a> with whom he shared prison cells.
The prison, like the rest of local prisons, is reported to be overpopulated when it lacks basic services including food, toilets and blankets.
Earlier this year, President Emmerson Mnangagwa extended a presidential pardon to many inmates in an endeavour to decongest prisons but the number has since ballooned again.
Health experts say local prisons are a health ticking time bomb particularly in the wake of the deadly and contagious coronavirus.
More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/sikhala-demands-closure-of-inhabitable-chikurubi-prison/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">New Zimbabwe</a>

Sikhala Says Chikurubi Prison Must Be Shutdown

#July 31 protest organiser, Jacob Ngarivhume has spoken about his experiences during his 43-day detention, first at Harare remand prison and after he was transferred to Chikurubi Maximum Prison.
The Transform Zimbabwe (TZ) leader said he, alongside investigative journalist Hopewell Chin’ono, were transferred to Chikurubi because authorities were angered by MDC Alliance Nelson Chamisa’s visit.
Despite being in leg chains whenever they would their cells, Ngarivhume reckons that life was a bit tolerable at Chikurubi that at Harare remand prison. He said:
<blockquote>At Harare Remand Prison, there were no toilets, and I was eating one meal a day, food from my wife and then try to beg for a toilet at the reception. Half the time, they (officials) would refuse.
But at Chikurubi, we had easier access to toilets and now l was eating two meals a day one, in the morning and one in the evening, which was at 2 pm and from 3 pm you must be in your blankets.
The other advantage there was that there were few lice as compared to Harare Remand Prison.</blockquote>
The former MDC Alliance principal said he shared a cell with 19 other inmates at Chikurubi and about four of them were serving over 106 years, 108 and 115 years.
Ngarivhume said he was amazed by the inmates’ generosity as they were the people who looked after their food and arranged water for them to bath. He said:
<blockquote>In my cell, half the people were serving life sentences and about four were serving over 106 years, 108 and 115 years. So, we were living with convicted criminals, but again there had to take care of us.
These are the people who looked after our food, these are prison people who had no value in society, people that the society had rejected.</blockquote>
Ngarivhume was arrested on 20 July and charged with violence incitement against the government.
He was granted ZWL$50 000 bail by High Court judge Siyabona Musithu on Wednesday and ordered to surrender his passport and report to the police three times a week.
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/ngarivhume-speaks-on-jail-nightmare-says-chamisa-prison-visit-brought-more-woes/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NewZimbabwe.com</a></h4>

Ngarivhume Narrates His Experiences At Chikurubi

The Officer in Charge of Chikurubi Maximum Prison has reportedly issued death threats jailed MDC Alliance national vice-chairperson, Job Sikhala who was arrested on Friday for inciting public violence.
Sikhala’s lawyer Harrison Nkomo told Magistrate Lazini Ncube that on his detention Sunday at Chikurubi prison, the officer in charge of the facility, identified as George Mutimbanyoka threatened Sikhala with death. Nkomo said:
<blockquote>He was advised that he wanted to be the president of this country, which is undesirable. He was told that he shall die in this prison and was asked to provide the mobile number for his next of kin to be advised when he dies.</blockquote>
He added that Mutimbanyoka went on to instruct a junior officer, only identified as Murima to handcuff Sikhala the entire day.
Sikhala who is also reported to have spent the whole of Sunday in leg irons is said to have been detained in D Class which is for condemned prisoners.
Nkomo also told the court that the Zengeza West legislator was told by fellow inmates in D Class that seven of them had tested positive for Covid-19 the previous day while on the same day, four had tested positive to the deadly virus.
Sikhala claimed he had no sanitiser or personal protective clothing against coronavirus adding that he was willing to stay at any other prison.
The hearing on his application to be removed from remand was once again postponed.
More: <a href="https://www.newzimbabwe.com/prison-boss-threatens-sikhala-with-death/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">NewZimbabwe</a>

Sikhala Receives Death Threats From Prison Boss, Detained In D Class

An SDA Pastors’ Wife has taken to social media to raise 4000 lunchboxes and other commodities to help the inmates at Chikurubi who according to her post are being treated in an inhumane way as some of them are eating on the ground and drinking dirty water.
Posted Nyary Moyo on her Facebook.
<blockquote>Last Sat I had the opportunity to visit Chikurubi maximum prison and the situation on the ground is baaad😭😭😭. With the current economic crisis, it’s bad for inmates. I saw men eating from the ground because they dont have plates, I saw people eating from patched lunchboxes, how bad can it be to patch an old ice cream lunch box 😭😭😭 Because of the water crisis, everyone gets a bucket of grey water to drink, bath, and use the bathroom per day, the poor ones have no shoes, no decent uniforms and no soap.
<div class="text_exposed_show">
To not do something would be criminal, please help us raise 4000 lunchboxes and slippers to donate to these inmates. Lunchboxes come in handy because they get their supper before their locked up in their cells at 3, so they use them as storage to eat later.
Please help with used ice cream lunchboxes and slippers. For more info contact 0738 135 849 or 0773 728 388
</div>
</blockquote>
This post has exposed how the economic meltdown has made ZPS treat inmates as they fail to provide even the most basic human need, clean water.
Source: Facebook.

Social Media Campaign Exposes Inhumane Treatment For Chikurubi Inmates

<blockquote>Today President Nelson Chamisa visited MDC members who are incarcerated for political reasons.
Members of the MDC continue to be targeted for reasons which have nothing to do with professional prosecution but political persecution.
They are then subjected to deplorable prison conditions in facilities which are neither rehabilitative nor correctional. President Nelson Chamisa bemoaned the conditions of the prisoners who confirmed to him that they are living in squalid conditions where each prisoner is given a maximum of 4 litres of water per day for drinking and bathing.
Among the people visited by President Chamisa are Last Maengahama and Tungamirai Madzokere as well as other MDC members arrested in the targeted episode of January 2019.
We in the MDC have been calling for criminal justice reform as part of broader judicial reforms.
Both the Judiciary and the NPA must be independent. The MDC pushed for separation of prosecution duties from the office of the Attorney General with the view to depoliticize processes.
We are concerned by the welfare of the families of those incarcerated for the sole purpose of combating dissent. Their welfare is even more concerning in the times of economic crisis.
In Service of Humanity,
Maureen Kademaunga 
Secretary for Public Service and Social Welfare</blockquote>

FULL TEXT: MDC Statement On Chamisa's Visit To Chikurubi Maximum Prison

MDC president Nelson Chamisa was reportedly denied access to jailed party activists at Chikurubi Maximum Prison for more than an hour.
Chamisa was at the prison on Friday (today) where he was visiting jailed party activists Tungamirai Madzokere and Last Maengahama who are serving 20 years each for murdering a police officer in Glen View.
He was finally let in after guards had made “countless” calls to higher offices.
Speaking to journalists after the visit, Chamisa said:
<blockquote>I have had to come here to spend more than three hours waiting for the clearance. I understand that they indicated that I’m high profile so they needed to make sure that they inform their head office.
It is undesirable and very unfortunate. I’m a lawyer, I have every right as a lawyer to visit any client whom I wish to visit but more to that I’m also a leader of a political party, legitimate, legal and lawful political party.
So if I wish to visit any person, I should also have the same right. I’m not asking for any privilege, I’m not asking for any special treatment, I’m just asking for the ordinary privilege to be able to have access.
… When you have a dictatorship around entrance into a prison gate, there is not a better dramatization of a manifestation of the undesirable circumstances of tyranny. That was really quite disturbing but fortunately, we ended up seeing them.</blockquote>
Chamisa bemoaned the inhumane living conditions in the prison. He said:
<blockquote>They told me about the challenges they are facing as inmates. They told me that they have about 2600 inmates and together with their colleagues, they are getting between six to 10 thousand litres of water per day meaning they for every inmate, there are about four litres for drinking, bathing and other important necessities.
So it’s quite a dicey situation for the inmates and they also told me that the prison has cracked walls so they are worried about their safety.</blockquote>
<h4>More: <a href="https://www.263chat.com/chamisa-temporarily-denied-access-to-jailed-party-activists-at-chikurubi/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">263Chat</a></h4>

Chamisa Temporarily Blocked From Visiting MDC Activists At Chikurubi

An academic, motivational speaker and political activist, Patson Dzamara has called for an investigation into the conduct of charismatic preacher, Walter Magaya over allegations of sexual misconduct.
Magaya is the founder and leader of a Harare-based megachurch, Prophetic Healing and Deliverance Ministries (PHD). Said Dzamara through his Twitter account:
<blockquote>I still wonder why Walter Magaya is not in jail! Is it because he has money? It seems he has abused and forced himself on many women and yet he remains a free man. He must face justice and go join Gumbura at Chikurubhi.
Makandiwa leads a big congregation just like Magaya but I’ve never heard any allegation of sexual abuse against him? This should be the 4th time for Magaya.
There is a big issue here…and Magaya must be thoroughly investigated. He must not be allowed to continue abusing women.</blockquote>
<h4>Related:</h4>
<ul>
<li class="entry-title">
<h4><a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2019/05/17/actress-receives-death-threats-for-exposing-walter-magaya/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Actress Receives Death Threats For ‘Exposing’ Walter Magaya</a></h4>
</li>
<li class="entry-title">
<h4><a href="https://news.pindula.co.zw/2018/06/21/magayas-application-to-appeal-against-rape-case-fails/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Magaya’s Application To Appeal Against Rape Case Fails</a></h4>
</li>
</ul>

Magaya Should Join Gumbura At Chikurubi - Dzamara

3 senior prison officers employed Chikurubi Maximum Prison are facing charges of corruption after they engaged in a chicken rearing project with prominent prisoner Munyradzi Kereke using prison labour.
The 3 are:
<ul>
<li>Senior assistant commissioner Norbert Chomurenga. He was the officer in charge at Chikurubi. He benefited directly as money from the sale of chickens was sent to his EcoCash number. He was later transferred.</li>
<li>Chief correctional officer Cephas Chiparausha. He was the head of security at Chikurubi.</li>
<li>Assistant commissioner Tonderai Mutiwaringa. He was deputy to Chomurnga and later benefited directly from chicken sales after Chomurenga was transferred.</li>
</ul>
In exchange, Kereke is reported to received preferential treatment as a prisoner allowing him unscheduled visits, no manual work and extra free time.
The 3 were remanded out of custody on $100 bail by a Harare magistrate.
More: <a href="https://www.thestandard.co.zw/2019/03/03/kereke-prison-bosses-embroiled-chicken-scandal/">The Standard</a>

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